Weekend Wedding

Here are some highlights of my cousin's wedding this weekend in Davenport:

The young couple in love

After the groom kissed the bride, Ian kissed his sister.

The 3 ring bearers carried these signs out when the ceremony ended.
The other sides said, "Here comes the bride," which they showed when they escorted her.

All the kids had loads of fun on the dance floor waiting for the wedding party to arrive.
Ian loved it when the Cha Cha slide came on. At one point he was in the middle of the crowd trying to copy what they were doing. He eventually discovered being on the end worked better. It was so cute because they'd say stomp, the crowd would, then Ian would; or they'd all hop, and then he would.

It's a little hard to tell in this photo, but to remove the garter, the groom laid down on one of those boards you lay on when working under a car. He stopped on his way as he was walking up to the bride, asked if anyone knew a tool man, because he needed the right tools to get the g off, and his now father-in-law brought it out for him. Cutest garter removal I've ever seen.

It was a blast. We all left the party at 11:00 exhausted. Annaliese got passed around from one person to the next, and slept maybe a total of 30 min the 6 hours we were there, but was never fussy (so glad our happy baby is back!). And that night was so full of energy she took forever to wind down and sleep.

Scrappy Time

As far as my hobbies go, I have felt like scrapbooking a lot more lately than quilting. I hauled my machine out yesterday for the first time in at least a month and sewed a bit. I'm working on a little something I like to call SBG.

But I have found myself sitting at my scrapbooking table quite a bit lately.

Ian's first time frosting and decorating sugar cookies for Easter 2009.

Ian helping us replace our fence May 2009

Playing in the snow with a new sled Dec. 2009

Events from Thanksgiving weekend 2009

I made this page for Marlena's baby shower. Marlena and Noah aren't finding out the sex until birth, so I had the guests there guess what the sex was, when it was coming, and write some bits of wisdom for her.

HE DID IT!!!!

Today at swimming lessons was deep end day, and Ian did GREAT!! We had talked about it last night and he was mad when lessons first started because he wanted to go sit by the deep end, not the shallow (though still over his head) end where they usually sit. In the deep end, he jumped off the side of the pool into the water with no inhibitions. On the board, Jill said, "One, two, three, JUMP!" and Ian just stood there with a look on his face like, "You want me to do what?" But the second time she helped him in and he popped up with a smile on his face.

He's come so far from the first days of swimming lessons when we had tantrums at home about not wanting to go and I had to carry him kicking and screaming to the side of the pool. He refused to get his face wet and spent most of the class crying. Now he spends it splashing, talking to the other kids, and SMILING!

In the Pool

Between rain storms yesterday, I finally got Ian's pool blown up. He helped me fill it, and after his nap, he made a bee-line for it. He is so comfortable in his pool, which is a huge change from summers past. I can totally tell swimming lessons these past two weeks are paying off as well. We could splash, and he didn't immediately scream or want a towel; he just went with it. He got down on his stomach, laid on his back, and blew bubbles- all things I don't think he would have done before taking swimming lessons. As soon as breakfast was over this morning, he asked to go swimming again- I think he likes it :)

Happy Father's Day

We spent Father's Day the way I hope Darrin would have wanted: at home enjoying the day with our kids.

Today was a clothes-optional day for the kids.
Actually, Ian would prefer just to run around in his undies every day.

Ian cannot stay away from Annaliese when she's awake.
So today, he had to play on her floor gym with him.

For dessert we had some Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Pretzel cookies that Ian helped me make. They're very tasty (as in I've had 4 already today, and will probably eat one more before bed). I think the next time I'll double the dough and add some peanut butter chips and caramel bits.

Ian had fun helping me put them on the cookie sheet.

I scooped it into the "end loader" and he pushed it off with the "bulldozer".

So, Happy Father's Day to...

Darrin- I couldn't ask for a better daddy for Ian and Annaliese.
To my dad, who spoils his grandkids rotten.
To my father-in-law, who also loves to spoil his grandkids.

To my grandpa.
To Shawn and Noah, the soon-to-be fathers


And to my brother-in-law and all the other fathers out there. Hope your day was great!

A Comparison of Two Saturdays

What a difference a week makes. Last week we were running around so much we barely had time to catch our breaths.

That morning, we went to St. Olaf for the Uff Da Daze parade and lunch. Turnout wasn't the greatest (probably because the weather was crap) but that meant more candy for Ian!



After that, it was off to the wedding of my cousin Maureen and her now hubby Jim. Beautiful wedding (though I spent quite a bit of time trying to keep Ian in the pew and quiet-apparently difficult to do with tractors involved, so I missed parts of it). Her dress was GORGEOUS!!! Just about every time I go to a wedding, I want to get married all over again, because I want to wear another wedding dress.

After the ceremony we hopped back in our car and headed to the reception for Darrin's brother and his wife. They were married last month in Jamaica and we were unable to go. Annaliese was so much better than we anticipated, as she had been fussy all week. Turns out she had an ear infection. As long as she was held, she was fine. Ian barely left the dance floor once he got on it. He had a great time dancing with another little girl, and towards the end of the night, he only wanted to dance with Jodi. He became her little shadow.



Today, however, no parades, weddings, or receptions. Just yard work, cleaning the house, and date night tonight (dinner and movie) for Darrin and I to celebrate our 6-year anniversary.

Happy (early) Father's Day

I got the kids involved this year for Darrin's gift, and discovered it's impossible for a three-year-old to keep a secret when necessary. No sooner had Darrin walked in the door tonight than Ian blurted out, "We have a picture for you." He was about to mention the fact that I had painted his hands, too, but luckily I distracted him with having to sign his name to the card. I might add that painting Ian's hands was no problem at all, but getting Annaliese to uncurl her hands was an Olympic event. We succeeded, though a mid-day bath was necessary.

Another Day of Firsts

Ian's First: Swimming lessons! He made me happy by actually getting in the pool. He surprised me when he let Jill dunk him and he didn't cry! He has to work on blowing bubbles in the water, as he didn't let his face get anywhere near the water except for the dunk, which I don't think he exactly knew was coming. He did lay on his belly (head fully out of the water) and on his back (head resting on Jill's shoulder). I'm curious to see how tomorrow goes, now that he has an idea of what to expect.


Annaliese's First: ear infection :( At least now we know why she was SOOOOOOO fussy this past week. Can't wait until the antibiotics kick in and I have my happy girl back.

My Little Picasso

Ian is going to preschool in the fall, and as we toured one of the possible choices, he became obsessed with the paint easels. He keeps talking about going to preschool and learning to paint. Instead of making him wait til the fall for his first opportunity to paint, I pulled my paints out for him at home the other day and let him have at it. He loved it!

Smiles

I can never get enough of her smiles. We'd act like fools to get them to appear on her face, but thankfully, as soon as she sees us, or we say something to her, one breaks out on her face, so we don't have to pull out the act very often.

Ian and Annaliese

Ian adores Annaliese and he loves to play with her. It's funny for us to listen to him, because we can hear ourselves in some of what he's saying.

(The quality isn't fantastic, I shot this with my phone).

Sears Pictures

We had pictures taken today at Sears for Annaliese's 3-month and Ian's 3-year. Here are some of our favorites:

Annaliese 1

Annaliese 2

Annaliese 3

Annaliese 4

Annaliese 5

Ian 1

Ian 2

Ian 3

Ian 4

Ian 5

Kiddos

Family